ITfC at the World Social Forum

IT for Change attended the Forum Social Mondial 2015, in Tunis, Tunisia, primarily to co-organise a workshop on 'Organising an Internet Social Forum - A call to occupy the Internet' as an active member of the Just Net Coalition, a coalition championing a Just and equal Internet. This was immediately after the terrorist attacks that took place in Tunis on the 18th of March, so security was ubiquitous.

We commenced announcing our initiative with the help of catchy posters and flyers put together by our combined powers and visions (read: respective communications teams). Help was close at hand, in the form of many an ally, new and old, and the very friendly and hospitable Tunisian civil society community! The workshop was a grand success as we witnessed the seamless expansion of a support system for the Internet Social Forum initiative. A second, and smaller meeting was also held, to further concretise furture directions.

It was our first experience at the WSF and we were thrilled to be in a civil society space, inclusive of, and dedicated to people from multifarious sections and intersections, gathered together to plan and strategise for a people's tomorrow! Not surprisingly, the atmosphere was dense with the fervour of solidarity - palpable, almost! As an added bonus, we seized the opportunity to liaise with the convergence assembly on 'Resisting and Building Alternatives to Free Trade and Corporate Power: People and the Planet Before Profits' put together by Trans National Institute, POLARIS, Friends of the Earth etc. , as well as the convergence Assembly on Communication Rights', put together by the World Forum of Free Media and friends. We believe that the outcomes of these alliances will serve as levellers of the global socio-economic field, and aid us in collectively tackling the status quo.